Just Like Anyone Else
by Naomi Ricard
Summary: When James makes a certain request after a party, Sofia finds herself reevaluating everything in her life, but most importantly, her feelings towards her step-brother. The fact that she holds something more than sisterly feelings towards him grows apparent, however, after rumors start flying at school and begin to get out of hand. -Modern High School AU-
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note: Real quick, this won't become a regular occurrence, however, I need to inform everyone that in this story Sofia is 16 and James is 17, thus making Amber 17 as well, just so we're all on the same page. That's all! Enjoy.**

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**Just Like Anyone Else**  
_by Naomi Ricard_

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**Chapter One**

The music was loud, rambunctious, and caused a pounding in her head. The volume was up so high that she could feel the beats of the music reverberating through her body, though there was nothing she could do about any of it until she found her step-brother. The small brunette maneuvered around the various party-goers: kids that were just plain drunk; ones that were making out and grinding in the center of the large, crowded room; and the handful of people passed out on the floor. She tried her best to avoid bumping into people or stepping on their faces as she attempted to get through, however she wasn't completely successful, as she ended stepping on bleached hair, tripping, and falling hard into some random guy's backside.

"Sorry," she mumbled, more concerned with finding her step-brother than ruining whatever illicit activity the other teenager had been involved in prior to her collision.

The guy only grunted in response and went back to, well, _whatever_ he'd been doing to the girl in front of him, allowing her to continue making her way across the room in the search for her companion.

It had been all his idea to attend this party in the first place. He'd convinced her that it'd be fun and that their parents wouldn't find out—neither their own set of parents or the parents of the person throwing the party—but she'd only really gone to keep an eye on him. He tended to get himself in trouble a lot more than either her or his twin sister did simply because he had a lot of ideas that weren't the brightest. She was beginning to think that this party was probably one of his worst ideas yet, at least the one the contained the least common sense.

She sighed, wishing that she could just be home once again holding her rabbit and doing something productive instead of being surrounded by drunk teenagers and vomit.

It was then that she finally saw the familiar blond hair, the owner sitting on a couch a ways in front of her. The petite junior rushed over to greet him, and found that he was sitting on the sofa alone with a half-drunk beer in his hand. She carefully took a seat on the couch beside him, wrinkling her nose at the smell of alcohol.

"James," she said softly, catching his full attention.

"What is it, Sofia?" he replied, slightly slurring his words. It appeared to Sofia that he was having a hard time sitting up properly, and instead was leaning laxly into the cushions.

"I want to go home," Sofia confessed, looking down at her lap. "I think we're kind of just spending time here and not really getting anything important done."

James looked at her sympathetically, then he looked down at the beer bottle in his hand and held it up to face level. "I'm not gonna be able to drive, Sof. I've had three of these," he said, waving the bottle around sloppily.

"Well," she said thoughtfully. "I suppose that I can drive if I have to."

"No," James stated, as well as he could state anything in his state. "You've only had your permit for two months. You're not gonna drive anywhere."

Sofia sighed and started picking the pilling off her purple sweater sleeve. "We don't have much of a choice, James. You're kinda wasted," she retorted, though her tone was still soft as always.

"Yeah, we have a choice. We can stay here." James set the beer down on the side table next to the couch, where a lamp had been when everyone was arriving. Peeking around the couch and James, Sofia could see that the lamp had been shattered into a hundred tiny pieces sometime during the course of the party.

"But I don't think we should..." she said. "Look, I know how to drive. I already have all my hours done. Let's go. Please?" she finished, borderline pleading.

He glanced off to the side, apparently surveying the room in his drunken state, and then glanced back at Sofia. Looking at her straight in the eye, James seemed to relent. "Fine, Sof, you win." He started trying to get up out of the chair, but the blond fell right back down into his seat as soon as he was halfway up.

Sofia stood up promptly and held out her hand to help her brother. James took her hand, seemingly grateful. "I'll need the keys, y'know."

She was somewhat surprised when James responded, as she thought he wouldn't have heard her due to the raging music that still sounded loudly throughout the room. "Yeah, they're in my pocket."

"I suppose that means you don't want to go through the trouble of getting them," Sofia replied, the tone of her voice sweet despite the fact that her words would sound sarcastic and irritated coming from anyone else. However, she simply continued with, "Which pocket, James?"

"Back right," he answered, leaning on Sofia to keep himself balanced. She gave him a pitiful 'Really?' look before reaching a hand around his back and slipping her hand into his pocket. As soon as she felt the warm metal of the key, she grabbed it and pulled.

"I got them," she announced cheerfully, "Now we can go."

"Yeah, alright."

She grasped his hand with her own free hand, while her other arm went around his waist. "It's alright, James," Sofia said kindly. "I'll help you get to the car." And with that she started walking, albeit slowly and helping her brother along.

It wasn't the easiest thing for her to figure out how she was going to move around the swarm of people, but eventually she got to the door. Rather quickly, both she and James were down the driveway and next to his Tahoe.

They arrived at their house in what felt like no time. As Sofia pulled into the driveway, she noticed that their parents weren't home and Amber, James' twin, wasn't either. She breathed a sigh of relief; no one really needed to see James drunk when Sofia felt it was partially her fault that he'd gotten that way.

"Do you want some water?" Sofia offered once they got to the front door and unlocked it with James' key. "Or maybe something to eat? I heard somewhere that it can help you sober up."

"Nah," James answered as she led him to the recliner and sat him down.

"Alright," she replied, even though she thought it was rather unlike James to deny food, no matter what the situation was.

He leaned back in the recliner, closing his eyes. Sofia pulled at the lever on the side and made the footrest pop up, allowing the chair to go further back, which she hoped was what he wanted.

"Thanks, Sof," James mumbled as he readjusted himself in the chair.

"No problem," she said happily. "Anything else you need?" Sofia wandered into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of ice water.

"I don't think so," he replied from the living room.

"Okay," Sofia said before turning around to look at the painting calendar behind her head. On the date her mother had written: _Company dinner 7:00PM-11:00PM_. She then looked at the clock and realized the time was 10:45. "Great," she whispered to herself, "They'll be home in half an hour." Something had to be done about James before he got in trouble; that was the last thing Sofia wanted.

"Um, James," Sofia called, padding out of the large tiled kitchen to see her step-brother half asleep in the living room.

"Hmm," James hummed in response.

"I really think you should get to bed," she said, setting her glass down on the coffee table and standing in front the recliner containing James. "Mom and Dad are going to be home soon, and you probably don't want to be out here when they get home, right?" Sofia giggled nervously, trying to keep her tone lighthearted.

"Prob'ly not," he said lazily.

"That's just what I was thinking!" Sofia exclaimed. "So let's get you back to your room." She grabbed James' arm, and as she did so he opened his eyes.

"Careful, you're gonna di'locate my shoulder," he said, still sounding like he was only half-conscious.

Sofia looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry," she murmured, and continued helping him up. Once he was up, she had him propped up on her, using her like a crutch of sorts. "C'mon," she said, starting to move towards the long hallway that led back to a handful of rooms, including James' bedroom.

They slowly moved down the extensive hallway, whose beige walls were lined with photos of the three children—James, Amber, and Sofia—at various ages as well as their parents. Sofia cautiously avoided the handful of half-tables that also decorated the hallway, as there were flowers in different vases sitting on them, and the vases would be too easily broken if they were to hit the oaken flooring.

After what seemed like a possible eternity—though by looking at James' clock Sofia could see that it'd been no more than five minutes—the siblings reached James' room. Once they entered the room whose only light source was that of James' open laptop, she helped him over to his king-sized bed that obviously hadn't been made up that morning, as the covers were in complete disarray.

"Here you go," Sofia said, smiling as she sat James down on the side of his bed.

"Thanks," James replied, falling over sideways so that he was laying on his pillows.

After pulling the covers up over James, Sofia sat down on the bed beside him. "Is there anything else you need?" she asked, cocking her head questioningly.

James was quiet for a minute, and in the blue light of the laptop Sofia could see a sudden boldness appear in his brown eyes. "Yeah, maybe," he said, and to Sofia he appeared more clear-headed than he'd been minutes before.

"Maybe? What is it?" she pressed, curious about what James could possibly be thinking.

"Well..." James' speech wandered. "I could use a goodnight kiss," he finished, looking directly into Sofia's eyes.

A chill ran down Sofia's spine, though she was too focused on what to say next to tell if the shiver was a positive or negative one. "A what?" she asked, practically dumbfounded by the request.

The blond turned away, no longer facing Sofia. "Nothing, forget it," James said, his tone sounding disappointed.

"Oh," Sofia said, regaining her sense. "Um, well..." She sighed.

There was a long silence between them; James' seemed somewhat embarrassed but mostly just disappointed, while Sofia's silence was more of a contemplation.

"Good night, James," Sofia said finally, getting up off the bed which caused it to creak. Standing up, she turned to see if James would give her any kind of response, but she noticed that he was already asleep. She gave him a small smile and then left the room to question the events that had just occurred.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"Sofia!"

Sofia awoke to her name being yelled directly in front of her. She winced slightly and opened her eyes a crack, only to find that the origin of the noise was Amber, who looked none too happy.

"Wake up, Sofia," Amber demanded, her arms crossed and her expression decidedly unpleasant. She was staring Sofia down, for lack of a better phrase, as Sofia rubbed her eyes in a mild attempt to bring herself to full awareness.

"What is it, Amber?" she asked, yawning and stretching as she did so. It was only then that she realized she'd fallen asleep on the couch in the living room while waiting for her parents to get home rather than falling asleep on her bed. Suddenly, all the events of the previous night came flooding back to her, including the last conversation she and James had had. Sofia could feel her cheeks grow warm at the thought of what could've happened, though she quickly tried to shake the thought and hoped Amber wouldn't notice.

"Well," Amber started, glancing at her freshly manicured nails, causing Sofia to wonder what time it was. "James informed me that you're the one who parked his gigantic beast of a vehicle last night, and it is on my side of the driveway." Amber recrossed her arms and said, "So would you please go move it?" In her typical fashion, she left out any of the politeness generally paired with the word 'please'.

Yawning once again, Sofia gave Amber a distracted answer. "Yes, I'll go move it." Thankfully Amber wasn't about to ask Sofia why she was acting a bit out of sorts. At least, Sofia thought she was acting odd.

"Good," Amber replied, walking into the kitchen. As Sofia payed attention to what her step-sister was doing, she saw that Amber was simply taking boiling water off the stove and pouring it into a mug that had a teabag in it. Sofia directed her attention away from Amber and onto looking for the keys on the kitchen island.

"Hurry up, Sofia," Amber said impatiently, strutting back to the living with her freshly made mug of tea. "I have places to go and people to see."

Spotting the keys, Sofia grabbed them off the counter and rushed towards the door. "Yes, Amber," she replied as she walked out the door, the crisp autumn morning air striking her face.

Sofia pulled on the sleeves of her sweater that she hadn't changed out of since previous night. It was chilly outside, and her hands could most definitely feel it. The air seemed to nip at her hands as she pulled open the heavy Tahoe door.

The inside of the SUV was no better temperature-wise. The grey leather seats felt as the they'd been refrigerated and the cold felt as though it permeated Sofia's white leggings. Though she was shivering, she reparked James' truck in what felt like record time and rushed back inside, in a hurry to take a hot shower and change into clean clothes.

"Did you move it?" Amber asked, though she didn't turn her attention away from the television once. Sofia absently wondered what her step-sister could be watching that was so interesting.

"Mmhmm," Sofia hummed, turning away from facing the living room and heading into the kitchen herself for a nice hot chocolate.

Amber didn't acknowledge Sofia's reply with anything other than a quiet _hm_; she was too busy being absorbed in the world of whatever she was watching on TV.

Sofia bustled about the kitchen, paying no mind to her inattentive sister, and instead focused on heating up water and milk to just the right temperature in the stainless steel microwave. Despite the advertisements that the device was state of the art, Sofia found that it never heated things up properly, and that she needed to watch the time to know just when to stir her drink to get it just right.

As her drink was heating, Sofia tried to make conversation with Amber. "Where are Mom and Dad?" she asked loudly, trying to be heard over both the microwave and the television.

"They're out. They had a meeting with the school principal or something," Amber said. Sofia had a feeling the only reason Amber was responding to her was because there were now commercials, since she could hear the _Friskies_ 'meow' jingle in the background. "I have a feeling it has something to do with James."

James. _James_. Why did Amber have to bring up James? Sofia was perfectly fine pretending James wasn't even a person she was aware existed at that moment. "Oh," she said, pressing the release button for the microwave door.

"Why?" Amber had muted the TV and was walking into the kitchen herself.

"No reason," Sofia said quickly, still a tad flustered at the mention of the third sibling. She pulled the mug out of the microwave rapidly, causing the mixture of hot water and hot milk to splash over the side and onto her wrist.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, nearly dropping her mug. Thankfully, Amber caught the handle and pulled it out of Sofia's hands.

"How about you go clean yourself up, Sofia?" Amber suggested, pouring the remaining, scalding liquid down the drain of the kitchen sink. After setting the mug on the counter, she continued, "You were in those clothes when I came home this morning. Obviously you were wearing them yesterday, and that is just... Go change," was her last demand, bringing her hand to her forehead.

"The things I have to deal with..." Sofia could hear Amber mutter as she headed back to the living room.

Sofia knew Amber was right and forgot about the hot chocolate. She felt she'd had enough hot chocolate for one day after spilling the unmade drink on herself. Sighing, she started down the hall to her bedroom, which, of course, she'd have to pass _his_ room to get to. Perhaps he wasn't in there, or even in the house; the thought was partially comforting to Sofia, even though it was impractical, since James almost never left the house on Saturdays unless he was hanging out with Zandar.

Gathering up her courage—and, well, dignity, she supposed—Sofia started down the hallway, becoming increasingly nervous as she got closer and closer to James' bedroom door. Obviously he'd woken up since the night before, as his bedroom door was now open, unlike Sofia had left it. She could feel her cheeks grow warm, and before she knew it, she was standing directly the the left side of his room's doorway.

Sofia told herself that she desperately wanted out of her sweater whose sleeve was drenched, and that walking by her step-brother's open door was no big deal if the ends was to change her clothing. But alas, she was not Amber, and she felt she would much rather avoid James and continue to have a soaked sleeve. After mentally weighing the consequences, Sofia decided that she'd try to quietly sneak past, while hoping and praying that James wasn't even in his room.

Taking as careful steps as possible, Sofia placed her sock-covered foot quietly on the floor. She paused and listened for a second. Hearing no resounding, "Hey Sof!" from James, Sofia figured he hadn't spotted her big toe that was just past the door frame. She took another careful step, allowing her full self to be seen in the doorway from any point in the room. Sofia braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut, waiting for the excitable greeting that she expected...

There was nothing. Sofia stood in the doorway, still as a statue, for what seemed like ages, and there was nothing. No sound, no greeting—just quiet. She dared to open her eyes slightly and peek into the room, and again: nothing. There was no James.

Sofia relaxed instantaneously. James wasn't there. His laptop was shut, his bed still just as unmade had it had been last night, and the clothes he'd been wearing were laying messily in the center of the room on the green carpet. Outside of those few things, Sofia wouldn't have even been able to tell James had been there since yesterday.

She let out a breath and continued to her room, her pace normal and her footsteps not as light. When Sofia entered her bedroom, she was nearly blinded, as she'd forgotten to close the heavy curtains the day before, and so bright, strong morning sunlight reflected off of the light lavender walls and right into her eyes.

Sofia squinted her eyes and rushed over to the window, drawing the curtains as quickly as she could. The thick, royal purple drapes fell in front of the giant window pane, shutting off any light coming into the room. This, of course, caused the need for a light to be turned on, so Sofia headed back to the entrance of her room and flipped the light switch.

It didn't take her long to get dressed. Sofia grabbed another sweater—this one also purple, though more of a periwinkle, with three deep violet diamonds down the front—and a pair of light wash bootcut jeans. She thought the weather was too chilly for leggings again. Once she was done, she examined herself in the mirror, and was satisfied with how she looked.

Right after she stepped back out into the hallway—she wanted to see what Amber was watching and if she wanted to watch it, as well—Sofia ran into the one person she'd been trying to avoid.

"Sof, you okay?" James asked her, as Sofia couldn't find anything to do other than simply stare at him.

"Uh, um," she stuttered, trying to find words to say. "Yes," she ended up replying.

"That's good, then," James said, a smile on his face.

Sofia noticed that his hair looked damp; she figured he must've been in the shower, and that was why she hadn't run into him. "Yes," she repeated, still distracted. What she desperately wanted to know was if James remembered anything he'd said not twelve hours ago. However, it didn't seem like she was going to get the answer anytime soon.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he questioned, giving her a presumably incredulous look. "You seem nervous."

"I'm fine, James. Great, even," Sofia said, nodding her head emphatically. She found it difficult to focus on what she was saying rather than certain things that were now available to her senses, such as the way James looked or the way he _smelled_. It was now beyond obvious to her that he'd been in the shower; she could smell the soap that he'd used. Whatever soap it was, it smelled _amazing_, something like a mix between the mountains and-

Her thoughts were cut-off by James' unsure reply of, "Uh-huh." Sofia felt herself blush lightly. She knew she shouldn't have been thinking such things; he was her _brother_, for goodness' sake.

"Yep. Just great, lil' old me!" Sofia supplied with faux cheerfulness, mentally shaking her head to clear her mind.

Though James still had a sense of skepticism about him, it appeared as though he was finally accepting her answers that she was indeed okay. "Alright," he finally said, turning around and heading to his room. "Just call if you need anything," he added.

"I will," Sofia said, deciding it would be best just to go into her room, lie down on her bed, and stare at the ceiling for the next four hundred years.


End file.
